Letter of Rec from a Med Student?

[Dr. Stalker]

At the hospital I'm shadowing and volunteering at, I tend to interact with medical students a lot. I've been paired up with one guy for the past several weeks (he's ms3 and actually with the attending I'm shadowing), and he offered to write me a letter of rec! Seems really odd though, I was completely flattered, but he only has a BS degree from college. Thoughts, should I take it or just tell him not to waste his effort cause it won't make that big of an impact? Thanks!

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[NickNaylor]

Oh dear lord no. If I saw an LOR from a medical student for an applicant I would laugh and then promptly disregard anything included in it.

 

[sillyjoe]

In a recent thread about obtaining a letter of recommendation from a patient @gyngyn stated:

Letters of evaluation come from people who have supervised you. They should be in a position in which you have no power over them.

While this situation is not exactly analogous I would like to point out that the medical student is more akin to being your peer/colleague than a supervisor. On paper both of you only have undergraduate degrees.

IMHO, obtaining a letter of recommendation from a MS3 is risky at best. If it were me I certainly would not take that risk. Is it not feasible to get one from the attending?

 

[22031 Alum]

Don't do it. Ask the attending for a letter and have the MS3 talk you up to him/her.

 

[gyngyn]

If you are an otherwise strong candidate for the school attended by the student, he could swing by the admissions dean's office and recommend you informally (he'd better be a good student, though!)

Do not get an LOR from a med student.

 

[Psai]

lmfao

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Thanks for the advice-- I figured it'd be risky at best. Yes, the attending is writing me one, but it was kind of outta nowhere when the ms3 offered it, and I thought it was really nice of him too!

 

[DrYoda]

Yeah I'll second the prevailing opinion. Get LORs from attendings, work supervisors, PIs, professors, anyone with more credentials. No students.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Yeah I'll second the prevailing opinion. Get LORs from attendings, work supervisors, PIs, professors, anyone with more credentials. No students.

Piggy backing off this a little, are residents okay? My PI recently declined writing an LOR because we "haven't worked closely enough together" over my 3 years with the group (I disagree, but whatever). My next choice is a current IM PGY-2 who is the first author on my published paper.

I have no idea if she would write a good letter or if she's even done it before. Yay/nay? Do I really need an LOR from my research gig if it's not my most meaningful experience?

 

[Lawpy]

Piggy backing off this a little, are residents okay? My PI recently declined writing an LOR because we "haven't worked closely enough together" over my 3 years with the group (I disagree, but whatever). My next choice is a current IM PGY-2 who is the first author on my published paper.

I have no idea if she would write a good letter or if she's even done it before. Yay/nay? Do I really need an LOR from my research gig if it's not my most meaningful experience?

Bad idea. Don't do it.

And you don't need a research LOR unless you're applying to research-heavy schools.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Bad idea. Don't do it.

And you don't need a research LOR unless you're applying to research-heavy schools.

Could you elaborate? Source or hearsay?

I am going for research heavy schools, but for reasons unrelated to research.

 

[Lawpy]

Could you elaborate? Source or hearsay?

The source is in my signature. Getting a letter from a resident is weak and usually disregarded. An attending LOR is what's important and taken into account.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

The source is in my signature. Getting a letter from a resident is weak and usually disregarded. An attending LOR is what's important and taken into account.

Even if the resident did full-time research for 3 years at my research place as an FMG before residency?

 

[Lawpy]

Even if the resident did full-time research for 3 years at my research place as an FMG before residency?

Yeah sadly. I hope @mimelim and @gyngyn can declare that I'm wrong, but from what I've seen, that's what it is.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Yeah sadly. I hope @mimelim and @gyngyn can declare that I'm wrong, but from what I've seen, that's what it is.

Hm, that's disappointing. Assuming it's the only letter I can get from my research place, though, is 1 letter like this out of a diverse package of 5 LORs still acceptable? I'd rather have one research letter than none.

 

[Lawpy]

Hm, that's disappointing. Assuming it's the only letter I can get from my research place, though, is 1 letter like this out of a diverse package of 5 LORs still acceptable? I'd rather have one research letter than none.

Hopefully adcoms can verify this, but in that case, the resident could probably write the LOR and have your PI cosign it, if possible.

 

[mmmcdowe]

See if the PI will be willing to cosign a letter written by the resident. It may be that the reason he is declining is because he is disatified with your performance and doesnt want to lie nor screw you with a poor LOR.

 

[22031 Alum]

Hm, that's disappointing. Assuming it's the only letter I can get from my research place, though, is 1 letter like this out of a diverse package of 5 LORs still acceptable? I'd rather have one research letter than none.

I don't know if I'd try so hard to have that letter if I were you. It sounds like your PI wouldn't write you a strong letter, and is declining for that reason. You've been in the group for three years; that is plenty of time to get to know you, even if you aren't working together directly.

 

[mimelim]

At the hospital I'm shadowing and volunteering at, I tend to interact with medical students a lot. I've been paired up with one guy for the past several weeks (he's ms3 and actually with the attending I'm shadowing), and he offered to write me a letter of rec! Seems really odd though, I was completely flattered, but he only has a BS degree from college. Thoughts, should I take it or just tell him not to waste his effort cause it won't make that big of an impact? Thanks!

A letter of recommendation from a medical student shows poor judgement in addition to being at baseline an incredibly weak letter. This isn't about the number of degrees that one has. What exactly can this student say about you? Even with an attending signature, this is at best a mediocre letter, on average a weak letter and at worst will make people wonder about your judgement.

Piggy backing off this a little, are residents okay? My PI recently declined writing an LOR because we "haven't worked closely enough together" over my 3 years with the group (I disagree, but whatever). My next choice is a current IM PGY-2 who is the first author on my published paper.

I have no idea if she would write a good letter or if she's even done it before. Yay/nay? Do I really need an LOR from my research gig if it's not my most meaningful experience?

Hm, that's disappointing. Assuming it's the only letter I can get from my research place, though, is 1 letter like this out of a diverse package of 5 LORs still acceptable? I'd rather have one research letter than none.

Again, what exactly do you expect this person to write about you? What foundation does this resident have to write a strong letter? Who are they to judge if you are a strong student/medical school applicant? If a resident writes your letter, people wonder, why didn't the PI write it? There is something seriously wrong if you are spending 3 years doing something and people don't feel comfortable recommending you for whatever reason. If people notice (which if you apply to a number of schools will definitely happen, it will be a red flag.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Again, what exactly do you expect this person to write about you? What foundation does this resident have to write a strong letter? Who are they to judge if you are a strong student/medical school applicant? If a resident writes your letter, people wonder, why didn't the PI write it? There is something seriously wrong if you are spending 3 years doing something and people don't feel comfortable recommending you for whatever reason. If people notice (which if you apply to a number of schools will definitely happen, it will be a red flag.

You're right. I guess I haven't done 3 years worth of work and I don't really know the PI all that well. More like been affiliated for 3 years but really only did substantial stuff for just over one year.

Thanks everyone. I will deemphasize this part of my app.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

You're right. I guess I haven't done 3 years worth of work and I don't really know the PI all that well. More like been affiliated for 3 years but really only did substantial stuff for just over one year.

Thanks everyone. I will deemphasize this part of my app.

Glad this thread was able to help you find out the answer to your question despite piggybacking off mine